Kathryn Rem: First Garden sets a good example

For foodies, the best news to come out of the Obama administration so far has to be the decision to create an organic garden on the south lawn of the White House.

Kathryn Rem

For foodies, the best news to come out of the Obama administration so far has to be the decision to create an organic garden on the south lawn of the White House.

A grassroots movement to start a national garden had been growing faster than corn on a hot day after food activist Michael Pollan proposed the idea in an October 2008 New York Times Magazine article.

The burgeoning local foods/organic/sustainable agriculture communities led the charge for replacing some of the neatly manicured lawn at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. with an American pie of a garden.

It will be a living, practical use of space that will not only provide fresh food for the first family and White House guests, but — critically important during these hard economic times — serve as a national symbol of self-reliance.

When Eleanor Roosevelt started growing her own produce in 1943, it spawned backyard Victory Gardens that helped feed the nation during wartime. By the end of World War II, 40 percent of the produce consumed in America came from home gardens.

With food prices on the rise and the nation’s economy in the compost heap, a White House garden is the right idea at the right time.

Ground was broken for the 1,100-square-foot plot by first lady Michelle Obama on the first day of spring. Plans are for the garden to be in operation year-round, with early planting in a few days and the first harvest expected at the end of the month.

Crops will change throughout the year.

The techniques used for extending the growing season into the winter will be especially useful teaching tools, hopefully duplicated by gardeners in cold-winter states who now close up shop at the end of the year.

Flowers will line perpendicular walkways through the L-shaped plot. Mrs. Obama said she plans to add a beehive so honey can be made.

Some of the harvest will be donated to a Washington, D.C., food pantry.

Terra Brockman of Congerville was part of a group that created a Web site, www.whitehousefarmer.com, to allow the public to nominate a White House farmer to oversee a south lawn patch.

“We were thrilled when we heard about the garden. The idea behind the Web site wasn’t so much about selecting one farmer but to bring attention to a White House garden,” said Brockman. News reports indicated that Sam Kass — a Chicago chef brought to the White House by the Obamas — will oversee the project.

I’m not much of a gardener myself, but I do grow tomatoes and peppers in my backyard each year. Occasionally, I try other crops, such as cucumbers, corn or cantaloupe.

Herbs are a must. Some years I put the starts in the ground, and other years I grow them in pots. But I’m partial to containers because I’m lazy. I’m much more apt to use the herbs when I only have to step out onto my deck to cut them and not traipse through the backyard, a playground for two dogs.